Buick is Part of the Star Wars Universe

Today, the world woke up to a brand-new Star Wars movie to love, hate, or yell about on the internet. So, in celebration of the release of The Rise of Skywalker, I thought it would be fun to talk about the series’ most bizarre and least known ship: a Buick Electra 225.

If you’re scratching your head wondering if this is some bizarre “Han shot first” situation where George Lucas cut a scene of Obi-Wan Kenobi tooling around Tatooine in a classic convertible, don’t worry, although that would be amazing. The Buick Electra found its way into a galaxy far, far away in the beloved Rogue Squadron series of video games.

It
first appeared as an easter egg in 1998’s Rogue Squadron, where
players could input a cheat code and have it replace the V-Wing fighter. It
showed up again in both sequels: Roque Squadron II: Rogue Leader,
Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike.

In
both Rogue Squadron and Rogue Leader, the
vehicle controls exactly the same as the V-Wing (flight and all), but the
engine hum of the ship’s thrusters was changed to the hum of a Buick. The
development team got a bit more creative with Rebel Strike, where
you can permanently unlock the Electra in your hangar, and even features a
cutscene where, as it leaves the landing bay to begin a mission, it takes a
nosedive off the edge before eventually regaining altitude.

So there you have it, Buick exists in the Star Wars universe, if not technically in canon. Eat your heart out, Millennium Falcon.

Aaron was born in a suburb of Toledo, Ohio and has managed to traverse most of the state between college and various shenanigans. Having majored in video game development and minored in film studies, he is a considerable fan of both forms of media. Additionally, he is available to explain why Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best feminist films of all time at the drop of a hat. His aspirations include — but are not limited to — not accidentally adopting any more cats and developing a responsible sleep schedule. See more articles by Aaron.